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ONSTAGE & BACKSTAGE: Working Vacation in P-Town
By Seth Rudetsky
18 Aug 2008
My sister Nancy came to visit this week from Virginia so we hightailed it to my long-time fave, [title of show]. I love it so much and was nervous she wouldn't think it lived up to everything I've said about it. Cut to: she loved it! She went backstage after the show and showed everyone the tears in her eyes. She told Susan that she was so moved and felt it was her life up there (Nancy performed all through high school but is now a lawyer). She said she that needed an emergency therapy session ASAP after seeing the show but was faced with the problem that no therapists are available at 11 at night. She added that the other stumbling block is that she doesn't actually have a therapist.
The craziest thing happened the night we saw it. Around two-thirds of the way through the show, Hunter and Jeff exit the stage through a door and Susan and Heidi remain onstage and sing about being the secondary characters. Well, I saw Jeff start to leave and the next thing I knew, he was flat on the floor and all that we could see onstage were his feet sticking out of the doorway. Everyone awkwardly stood there and Jeff did not move! Nancy leaned over to me and asked if that was supposed to happen and I knew if I said it was an accident, her co-dependence would kick in and she'd hail an ambulance so I muttered a combination of yes and no and kept staring at the stage. Finally, Hunter said with an odd line reading, "We'll be back" and it looked like Jeff was dragged offstage! What the — ? I was freaking out! What was with the immobilization? Heidi and Susan sang their song and I later found out they were thinking that he could be a.) injured
b.) terribly injured or
c.) dead. How can you go on with a comedy scene when you're wondering if your co-star is dead? Although, that's probably what Carol Channing wondered onstage about Mary Martin when they toured in Legends (see James Kirkwood's book "Diary of a Mad Playwright"). Anyhoo, Susan and Heidi got through their scene with plenty of laughs and, normally, at the end of it, Heidi riffs up a storm until Jeff surprises her and she stops suddenly. Well, I saw someone enter in Jeff's clothes and I was sure it was the understudy. But then the lights came up fully and I saw it was Jeff! I was so thrilled he was able to walk (and that he was alive) and apparently so was Heidi because right after she was "surprised" by him, she threw her arms around him in joy. I know she was happy but I have seen the show seven times and know that it wasn't the regular blocking. As a concerned theatrical professional, I took the liberty of writing her up to Equity. I'm still awaiting a response.
After the show, Nancy and I saw Jeff and he said he twisted his ankle super-bad. It was so bizarre to me because when he came back onstage, he looked totally fine and was able to do all the dancing, but after the show I saw how swollen his ankle was. He essentially got through the show on pure adrenaline and, as my director Peter Flynn calls it, "Dr. Theater." That's why Andrea Burns was able to break her foot onstage yet do all the high kicks at the end of "Be Our Guest" and Kevin Chamberlin was able to do Suessical while passing a kidney stone! Seriously! Next, I wanna see Heidi from [title of show] sing "A Way Back to Then" while giving birth. Sans epidural. Speaking of Heidi, she wrote all about the Jeff debacle from her perspective at http://www.titleofshow.com/blog/index.php?itemid=1301.
I interviewed Bailey Hanks (the current Elle Woods in Legally Blonde) and Autumn Hurlbert (her understudy) at my Sirius radio show. I got more details on the horrors of doing a reality show. They literally confiscate your cell phones when you get there so you have no contact with the outside world. And then, after they filmed around six episodes, the girls were allowed one ten-minute phone call. Autumn called her boyfriend, but because he was performing in South Pacific at the time, he didn't get the call. Of course, that was great for the TV show because it made Autumn more emotionally fragile. Seriously, they would play into everybody's insecurities so the girls would have breakdowns like, "The judges today said your dancing wasn't good. We watched the audition and your dancing really isn't good." Then they'd have her talk to the camera, hoping for "Leave Britney Alone" tears. Autumn's first big job was touring the country in Little Women and she told me how much she loved Maureen McGovern who played Marmee. Every Saturday, no matter what town they were in, Maureen would buy donuts for the whole cast and every Sunday she'd bring in a full bagel spread. They all called her "Maureen McGenerous." Generous? Generous is what my hips would be called if I was on that tour with Maureen McCarbLoading.
I complimented Bailey on her last note in "So Much Better" and asked her if she was happy that she got applause for it after only holding it for four counts. She said she loved the applause but a part of her wanted the audience to hear that she actually could hold it to the end of the phrase (29 counts). She's studying with Joan Lader (Betty Buckley and Patti LuPone's voice teacher) and Bailey said that Joan taught her it's all about being grounded. Bailey said it's not about her vocal placement as much as it is feeling strongly planted in the ground. Hmm…maybe that's why my Oak Tree has such a high belt. Horticulture comedy? Anybody? Nobody.
My nieces watched the interview (they were obsessed with the TV show) and then went to see Legally Blonde. I'm not saying that obsessiveness runs in the family…but….right after the matinee ended, Rachel Sarah immediately asked me to get her tickets for the 8 PM show. Yes! Another addict is inducted!
All right, everyone. This week I'm playing the Varla benefit and then heading home to NYC just in time to turn around and do my deconstructing show in Pennsylvania! I'll be at the Fulton Theatre in Lancaster on Aug. 22. Will they get my Barbra/Bea Arthur bit in Amish country? Will they like my show and build me a barn? Or will I be a "witness" to a slew of blank faces with beards? I'll find out at the end of this week and update you all on Monday. Peace out!
(Seth Rudetsky is the host of "Seth's Big Fat Broadway" on SIRIUS Satellite Radio and the author of "The Q Guide to Broadway" and the novel "Broadway Nights." He has played piano in the orchestras of 15 Broadway musicals and hosts the BC/EFA benefit weekly interview show Seth's Broadway Chatterbox at Don't Tell Mama every Thursday at 6 PM. He can be contacted by visiting www.sethsbroadwaychatterbox.com.)
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Seth and nieces (Rachel Sarah and Eliana Berman) with Bailey Hanks and Autumn Hurlbert.
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